Services to Glider Pilots
Airfield Assistants
Paid assistants on the airfield help with rigging, wing running and parking your car after takeoff. They will also help with retrieves when requested.
Flight Claim Processing
National and world record claims and badge flights can be observed and processed for you and your flights can be submitted to the Aerokurier On Line Contest, which we also use to determine our own champion.
Fuel And Oxygen
Fuel and oxygen is available at the airfield. Please bring your own filling adapter.
Internet Facilities
Internet and email facilities are available at the camp director’s residence for a small fee.
Launching
Our own specially upgraded Samba tow plane with 3 blade constant speed propeller has proven even better than a 250hp Rallye.
Our resident tow pilot is available from the beginning December until late January, depending on demand.
A backup tow plane and pilot is available on standby and for when the number of launches per day becomes excessive.
With two runways available, to get everyone off quickly as soon as the trigger temperature is reached, we use one runway for the self launchers and the other for aerotows. Our field assistants handle ropes for the pilots at the start point. Pilots must be current on aero tow. Note that contrary to Europe, we use the low tow position in South Africa.
Protection from 35 degree sun provided at launch point.
Medical
2 rapid response emergency medical rescue vehicles are stationed at Gariep Dam and world class trauma facililties are available only 90 minutes away in Bleomfontein.
Repairs
We have experienced glider and avionics repairmen on site. Our new hangar has facilities to allow us to repair damage quickly, allowing you to make the most of your period at Gariep. We also keep spare tyres, tubes, loggers, radios, etc.
Shade Parking
Gliders parked outside in the open sun for a month or more will suffer from ultraviolet light damage of the polyester gelcoat, unless protected in some way. We offer a parking area underneath a specially designed structure which is covered by nylon shade cloth with 85% UV filtering. It also provides piece of mind during stormy evenings. We have shade space for up to 15 private gliders.
Task Planning
We have turn point and task lists, which can be converted to suit most logger formats. Please request this in advance by email. We keep a supply of aeronautical maps of the task area. We can also supply the SeeYou task planning and flight analysis program, with South African geographical and airspace map. Click here to view. On arrival you will be provided with a map, turn-point list and suggested tasks.
Water Ballast
Water taps are situated in the glider tie down area, allowing ballast filling without traffic jams. Please bring your own hose pipe and filling apparatus for your glider.
Weather Forecast
At 0900 each morning we present a special gliding weather briefing, based on a forecast supplied to us by the South African Weather Bureau. This information is not just a broad synopsis by a foreign university, but a detailed localized gliding forecast developed from a multitude of weather sensors and stations around the country, using the latest computer models for gliding forecasts.
We are in daily contact with the Bureau, reporting on conditions found the previous day, thus helping to improve the forecasting accuracy further.
The data is presented in a unique set of easy-to-understand series of graphs and maps. We provide an interpretation of the data during the briefing, and from our years of experience in flying in these conditions, we will provide newcomers with advice on which task to select.…
Helmuth Fischer smashes world 1000km record at Gariep
This is truly one of the greatest world records flown in recent times. Hans Werner Grosse set the previous record back in 1979. Helmuth’s 169.7kph was an improvement of 14%, equaling many 300km and 500km triangles speeds of that time. He has again shown that Gariep Dam, South Africa has the finest soaring conditions in the world.
Helmuth said that he had woken that morning with the intention of going out to break the world 1000km triangle record. The day before, he had flown a national record in the ‘free distance category’ with a flight of over 1111km. The first turnpoint (TP) of this flight was identical to that of the record flight. The second TP was close enough to that of the second TP of the record flight to allow him to assess the weather situation in that area. At 18000ft (5400m) he had noticed that some of the clouds started to precipitate and this was a clear sign of the deepening of the trough over the interior of the country. This trough is a regular feature of the weather cycle in summer and had produced many spectacular flights. The next morning many of his thoughts were confirmed and backed up by the tephigrams from the South African Weather Bureau.
Helmuth had worked out that a trigger temperature of 36 deg C was needed and that by 10:30 am this would happen. However it wasn’t until after 11 am that the first wisps of clouds started forming. He launched soon after that and called for a start and went through the gate at 11:22 am. He ran more than 15km before he hit his first real lift and centered with the averager on 4 m/s. Climbing as high as it would take him, he was now firmly on his way, only stopping at 4 m/s. Two more 4 m/s thermals and he was at the first TP, Rouxville.
Other pilots were now also reporting 5 to 6 m/s averages. Shortly after the first TP, he picked up a cloud street at 17000ft and ran under it for more than 100km. After crossing the Vaal river, the thermal strengths were peaking at around 7m/s, with the best he saw for the day at 8.4 m/s; and the base moved up to 18000ft.
Although the thermals were very strong, he very rarely exceeded 220kph and flew mostly between 180 and 200 kph. The first short leg, his average speed was only 140kph. However, the second moved up to over 164kph. At the halfway mark he had averaged 157kph.
Staying high was very important as to accommodate the long runs looking for the 5m/s+ thermals. In fact when the lift dropped below 5.5 m/s he moved on. One must also bear in mind that there is a big speed advantage at the higher altitudes and he was extremely conscious of this fact.
After turning at Britstown at 3000m agl Helmuth’s speed for the second leg was 174kph giving him an average speed of 160.1kph. The last leg was only 193km and he knew that this was going to be even faster. He set off on the final leg and approximately 140km away he started final glide. Most of the way he ended up doing Vne and still had 700m agl when he crossed the finish line. It took 51 minutes to complete the last leg, an average speed of 227kph.…
Health
We are frequently asked about tropical diseases in Southern Africa. This is an important question relating to travel planning, especially in summer. Malaria and Bilharzia are the more important ones to consider. The former everyone has heard of, and is a major problem in Africa, since it is becoming drug resistant. Bilharzia occurs in rivers and lakes in most or the warmer parts of the continent.
For your guidance, if one draws a line from Durban on the east coast, to Pretoria and then across to the Orange River mouth on the west coast, no Milaria or Bilharzia can be expected south of this border. Travel to areas such as Kruger Park, Botswana and Namibia should be done after taking precautions recommended by your medical travel specialists. You should advise them that you will be undertaking gliding during your visit to the continent.
The GOOD NEWS is that Gariep is totally free of these scourges. So is Johannesburg and other beautiful holiday destinations in South Africa such as Cape Town, the Southern Cape Coast and the spectacular scenery of the Drakensberg Mountains, all within a day’s drive of Gariep.
All that you need at Gariep is plenty of drinking water (the municipal water from the tap, is the finest in the country), high factor sun block and a hat.…